Multimodal AI Model Optimization Research Engineer
Key Skills for This Role
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The Role
We’re looking for an experienced Research Scientist/Engineer with a focus on model optimization to join our core AI team.
Our ideal partner-in-crime thrives in startup environments, is comfortable prioritizing independently, and is willing to take calculated risks. We’re moving fast and looking for people who can help pave the path.
Your Mission
Take cutting-edge research models and make them fast, efficient, and production-ready using sparsification, distillation, and quantization
Own the optimization lifecycle for key models: define metrics, run experiments, and benchmark trade-offs across latency, cost, and quality
Partner closely with researchers and engineers to turn new ideas into deployable systems
Requirements
- Strong experience in deep learning using PyTorch
- Hands-on experience with model optimization and compression, including knowledge distillation, pruning/sparsification, quantization, and mixed precision
- Understanding of efficient architectures such as low-rank adapters
- Strong understanding of inference performance and GPU/accelerator fundamentals
- Strong Python coding skills and reliable research engineering practices
- Experience working with large models and datasets in cloud environments
- Ability to read ML papers, reproduce results, and adapt ideas
- Clear communication and collaboration skills
Preferred Experience
Optimization of diffusion models, video/audio generative models, or large language models
Experience with real-time or streaming systems (low-latency APIs, WebRTC, streaming TTS/video)
Familiarity with TensorRT, ONNX Runtime, TVM, Triton, or XLA
Experience writing custom Triton/CUDA kernels or low-level performance tuning
Experience with experiment tracking, benchmarking, and profiling at scale
Prior experience in research engineering or applied science roles
Location
- This position is preferably hybrid in San Francisco, with relocation support offered. Remote candidates are also considered.
Benefits
- When you join Tavus, you’re joining a family. We offer flexible work schedules, unlimited PTO, competitive healthcare and gear stipends, and a collaborative environment focused on learning and impact.
Culture & Diversity
We are not looking for cultural fits — we are looking for culture creators. Diversity drives our success, and we combine varied backgrounds, skills, and perspectives to build the best experiences for our clients..
About Tavus
San Francisco AI research lab building foundational models and conversational AI humans for developers and enterprises.
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